Rules of Battle
Folc4evernaday
Chapter 1
***
The smell of turkey and bacon on the grill hung in the air as the servers around them bustled from one end of the restaurant. Lois finished her iced tea, turning the ice cubes with her straw to get the last few drops. She pushed her glass to the side and turned to the vacant booth seat Clark had just vacated.
She spotted Lucy across the aisle, taking an order and leaned back against the plastic cushion of the booth. She and Clark had come here for lunch to work through the information they’d been able to find out about the robotic thief that had tried to rob a jewelry store last night.
She and Lucy had spent a few hours last night catching up. Lois had caught her up on everything that had happened with Ryan and Molly a few months ago and her and Clark’s budding relationship. Lucy had caught her up on the new relationship she was in. From the sound of him, Lois suspected he was no different from Lucy’s previous boyfriends. A deadbeat that would use her sister and break her heart. She tried to put on the supportive sister front, but it was hard when she saw Lucy making the same mistakes repeatedly.
What was worse was the buffoon actually lived here in Metropolis. They’d apparently met during Lucy’s break from school last spring. They exchanged numbers, and now here Lucy was back in Metropolis, conveniently close to the new loser of the month and not wanting to share an apartment with her sister. It wasn’t that she thought Lucy needed to stay with her but --it was out of character for her. She was hiding something, and Lois was going to find out what.
Clark returned to the table with his notepad in hand and a satisfied expression on his face. “What are you so happy about?” Lois inquired as he took a seat across from her.
“That was Jimmy. Apparently, the robot was powered by uranium.” He said with a satisfied grin. “Which means…”
“We track down who had access to uranium, and we have our suspect pool.” Lois finished for him. He laid a stack of files on the table. “What’s this?” she asked.
“I made a detour to grab the paperwork Jimmy had on our research labs.” He explained.
“Detour, huh?” she began flipping through the notes Jimmy had made on the first file. “Looks like STAR Labs has had some cutbacks.”
“Yeah, only two labs in Metropolis had the technology capable of creating a robot that advanced. Most of the other labs specialize in chemical compounds and simple mechanical arm robotics.” He explained. “LexLabs was the first one…” His face fell into a frown at the mention of the company’s name.
“Which is out of business,” Lois interjected.
“Good riddance.” Clark added before returning to his train of thought, “And STAR Labs.” He tapped on the folder in her hand.
“Well, considering all the defense cut-backs that came through once the ATS got shut down I’m willing to bet there’s a long list of disgruntled employees with the capability of robbing a jewelry store with their latest gadgets.”
“The question is who.” Clark agreed, growing thoughtful for a moment. “You know, what do they call someone who’s happy with his job? A ‘gruntled’ employee?”
Lois rolled her eyes at the corny joke. “I believe they’re called employed.”
Lucy walked up to them with a fresh pot of coffee and mug in hand. “Black, low-fat cream, and two sugars.” She handed the mug to Lois. “How’s that for memory?”
Lois took the mug from her and took a sip, “Thanks.”
“How was everything?” Lucy asked.
“Well, the service was kind of slow, but aside from that…” Lois gave Lucy a teasing smile.
“I’m so sorry.” Lucy’s eyes twinkled at her. “Tell you what your dessert’s on me. That and your senior citizen discount should make up for it.”
“Ha, ha,” Lois scoffed, throwing Lucy a dirty look.
“Well, if the broom fits.” Lucy shrugged.
“You know, I always envisioned the relationship between siblings to be… well... something different.” Clark said with an uncertain expression.
“That’s because you’re an only child,” Lois said, taking a sip of her coffee.
“So Lucy, how's it feel to be back in Metropolis?” Clark asked.
“Great. California was fun, but it was time to get back to school and finish my degree.” Lucy said with a sigh.
Lois looked down at her coffee, uncertain of how to react. Lucy had moved to California after the fiasco with their dad and a fight between Lois and Lucy over how to move forward. Lois fresh off the near-death of their father wanted to try and mend fences and Lucy didn’t or couldn’t support that decision. She’d moved out then followed her friend Maria to California for a few months. It had been a rather painful time in her and Lucy’s relationship that she wished to forget.
“Well, good for you, Luce,” Clark responded with a congratulatory nod. “Do you know what you want your major to be?”
“Well, I…” She stopped mid-sentence when a man in a green plaid jacket, black jeans and grey t-shirt approached. Lois narrowed her eyes when she saw him wrap her arms around her sister.
“Hey, Lucy!” the light brown haired man beamed, pawing all over Lucy.
Lois looked up at Clark who was avoiding the awkward scene of Lucy and her boyfriend’s public display of affection by staring intently at his glass of melted ice. Lois let out a sigh, tapping her fingers on the table irritably. Finally, unable to stand the uncomfortable feeling of watching the bafoon paw her kid sister a second longer she cleared her throat, drawing the attention back to herself and Clark who were left to watch the scene unnoticed by either of them.
Lucy blushed, pulling away from her boyfriend. He beamed at Lucy with a smile. “How’s my girl?”
“Johnny, I want you to meet my sister, Lois Lane.” Lucy gestured to the table. “Lois, this is Johnny Corbin.”
“How ya’ doing?” Johnny extended his hand to Lois, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Lois stared at the offending hand, unwilling to acknowledge the man as anything more than another man that would break her sister’s heart. “And I’ve heard about you.”
Lucy tightened her jaw at Lois, but she ignored it. Instead, Lucy then turned to Clark, “Um, Johnny, this is Clark Kent. He and Lois both work together at the Daily Planet.”
“Yeah? I used to work for the Planet. I had a route when I was a kid till they fired me. I was a little short on my subscription money a few times. Big deal right?” Corbin laughed his juvenile thievery off.
Lois gritted her teeth about to respond when Clark interjected, “You know, I think we need to get going.” He raised his eyebrows, gesturing to the files on the table. “Follow up on that story.”
“You sure?” Lucy asked.
Clark pulled out a few bills from his wallet and handed them to Lucy, standing to his feet. “We’ve got a busy morning.” He explained helping Lois to her feet.
“Right, busy.” Lois agreed unenthused as she bore into Johnny Corbin suspiciously. He seemed all too eager for them to leave. “Luce, I’ll call you later? Maybe we can share a meal where you’re not working?”
“Sure,” Lucy nodded. “Sounds good.”
Lois watched as Corbin followed Lucy to the register, whispering in her ear as she rang the checkup. “That’s the guy that got her to move back to Metropolis? Him?”
“Now’s not the time.” He reminded her, “If we don’t get out of here now you’re going to say something you’ll regret.” Clark finished, pulling her toward the door. “Remember? Jewelry store? Robot thief?”
Lois let out a long breath, staring at Lucy one last time before following Clark out the door. “Fine. Maybe I can get Jimmy to see what he can dig up on Mr. Johnny Corbin while we’re at it.”
***
Clark glanced at the list in his hand as he and Lois waited for the elevator. It had been a long walk back to the Planet. Lois’ attention seemed focused on the latest boyfriend of Lucy’s, and he was finding it difficult to hold her focus for more than five minutes on the investigation.
“It looks like there were quite a few layoffs from the robotics department with STAR Labs.” Clark observed from his notes, “but part of that department was scooped up from LexLabs earlier this year too.”
“Great,” Lois sulked, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for the current occupants of the elevator to step off. “How long is Lex Luthor going to haunt Metropolis?”
“At least we don’t have to worry about anything new leading back to him.” He pointed out, holding the elevator doors open for her as she stepped inside.
“Yeah, well knowing my luck it’ll lead right back to my kid sister’s latest boyfriend.” She muttered, pressing the button to the newsroom. “Did you see that guy? I mean, I can’t understand what she sees in someone like that. She followed him to Metropolis. She had a good job. She was working on her degree, but no she had to put it all on hold again…” Lois seemed to notice the expression he was giving her and shook her head, “Don’t expect me to be rational my kid sister is dating a monosyllabic illiterate goon!”
“Lois, calm down,” He ran his hand up and down her arm. “If the guy’s as bad as you think I’m sure your sister will see it.”
“Lucy is pigheaded and doesn’t like admitting when she’s wrong.” Lois retorted. He fought back a smile, and she added, “And no it doesn’t run in the family.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything.” He chuckled.
“Yes you were.” she laughed, fingering the knot of his tie.
He leaned in to kiss her and whispered, “Okay, maybe I was.”
Instantly, he felt her relax against him. Her hands wandered over his shoulders, and she smiled against his lips. He moved his hand to her cheek, fingering her dark silky hair between his fingers and inhaling the unique scent against his super nostrils that was a mixture of vanilla and lavender.
The soft ping of the elevator doors opening on the newsroom floor reached his ears, and he slowly pulled away from her, hearing the gentle egging from their co-workers. Unembarrassed they separated and stepped off the elevator hand in hand. About a week after the fiasco with the resurrected mobsters from Dr. Hamilton’s experiments they’d finally stopped trying to hide their relationship in the newsroom. Both Jimmy and Perry had been quick to figure it out, and he and Lois weren’t very good at hiding their relationship in the newsroom either. Most everyone had already been speculating on what was going on between them when they let the cat out of the bag.
Before they could make it to their desks, Perry was approaching them with his half-empty mockup of the afternoon edition. “Lois, Clark, you two better have something more than ‘we’re working on it’ to go on my front page.”
Clark let out a long sigh, meeting Perry’s gaze warily, “Unfortunately we’re still following up on a few leads, Chief.” Perry let out a snort of defeat. “The police aren’t sure what to make of last night’s robbery either.”
“Thankfully no one was hurt,” Lois interjected. “We should have more to go on soon though.”
“Hey, Lois, CK, here’s that list of employees from LexLabs and STAR Labs that have ordered uranium in the last six months,” Jimmy said, handing a thin manilla envelope to Lois.
“Thanks, Jimmy,” Lois took the folder from him, flipping through the file for a moment with a frown.
“Uranium?” Perry inquired.
“That’s how the robot was powered,” Jimmy explained.
“Copy boy!” the request came from the other side of the newsroom and Jimmy sighed, with a defeated expression to head that way.
“All right,” Perry wagged his finger at the two of them, “I want to see everything you’ve got on this by five. Maybe we can piece something together for the evening edition.”
“You got it, Chief.” Lois nodded. Perry moved off, heading toward Steve in Sports.
“So, where do you want to start?" Clark asked.
She handed him a few leaves of paper from the file. You take LexLabs, and I'll take STAR Labs."
He nodded and took the list from her heading to his desk. His attention focused on the familiar logo for a moment and sighed. No matter how long it had been, it was still a sore spot for him, the reminder of how close he'd been to losing everything to Lex Luthor. He'd underestimated Luthor. He never thought he'd get his hands on Kryptonite. It was a painful lesson that he'd taken to heart and made him remember to never underestimate an adversary.
Lex Luthor was gone, but his influence and crimes still seemed to haunt Metropolis. A fact that he himself found bothersome. He could tell the mention of LexLabs disturbed Lois as well. It was a painful reminder of how wrong she'd been about someone she thought she knew.
***
Lois was engrossed in the list she'd gone through of STAR Labs former employees with access to uranium. She and Clark had highlighted the employees that showed up on both lists. So far she hadn't made any progress on her end. No one from STAR Labs wanted to discuss the former employees with her.
Jimmy approached her with a file in hand, "Lois? Here's that research you wanted on Johnny Corbin."
Lois set the paper down and took the file from him gratefully, "Thanks, Jimmy. Anything jump out?"
Jimmy shrugged, "He's an overall bad guy. Two arrests for grand theft auto, half a dozen misdemeanors. Currently on probation...Not exactly someone you'd want to bring home to mom and dad if you get my drift."
"Yeah," Lois frowned at Jimmy's last statement. "Thanks, Jimmy," He nodded, heading back to his desk. Lois watched him leave with a frown. Something seemed to be bothering him but she wasn't sure if she should press the issue.
Lois took the paper in hand and walked over to Clark with a smug expression, "Well, well, well, guess what I found out?"
"The person behind the jewlrey thief robot?" Clark guessed, tapping his fingers on his chin.
"No, I've hit a dead end. I'm trying to get STAR Labs to call me back but no one wants to talk to the press right now." Lois sighed, handing him the file in her hand, "But I did find out something about Lucy's latest boyfriend."
"Lo-is," Clark let out a low sigh, taking the folder from her.
"He's got a rap sheet, Clark." Lois pointed at the black and white images showing Johnny Corbin posing front and side for his mug shots.
Clark's face fell to a disturbed scowl as he flipped through the very thick file on Corbin in his hand. "He definitely likes to tread on the wrong side of the law."
Lois reached for the phone on his desk and began to dial, "I'm calling Lucy."
"Whoa, whoa," He reached out to stop her, returning the phone to its cradle. "Just think about this for a second, Lois. What are you going to say?"
"That I found out her boyfriend's a criminal," Lois said, reaching for the phone.
"And how did you find it out?" Clark pointed out. "She's not going to be happy about you digging into her boyfriend's past like that. In my experience, people don't like to be told they're wrong." He offered her a smile, "Given that she's related to you she definitely won't take it well."
"Ha, ha," she snorted sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest. "What do you think I should do?"
"I'm not sure. You know her better than I do, but admitting you were digging into Corbin's past is definitely not the way you want to go if you want her to listen to you." Clark pointed out.
"So, what? I just sit on the sidelines and wait for her to find out the hard way?" Lois fumed irritably.
"How about just a gentle conversation about what she does know about the guy?" Clark prompted. "Let her be the one to dig into his past?"
"Okay," Her face softened, trying to figure out the best way to go about talking to Lucy. Clark was right. Lucy wouldn't want to admit she was wrong. "I suppose it's not a terrible idea." She turned her attention back to the computer Clark was working at. "How are you coming with LexLabs?"
"Well, none of the labs I spoke to reported any theft of uranium. But... apparently, when Lexcorp broke up, there was a significant amount missing from Lexlabs."
"Significant enough to build a robot?" Lois prompted.
“Try an Army’s worth,” Clark responded with raised eyebrows. “Someone stockpiled on a lot of LexLabs nuclear weapons division as well as robotics equipment.
“Any idea who had access to those areas?”
He showed her the list in his hand with five names circled. ‘Emmet Vale, Gretchen Kelly, Nathan Wallace, Jaxon Xavier, and Edward Hanson.’
“Gretchen Kelly?” Lois peered at the name suspiciously.
“The one and the same, but I did some checking, and she wasn’t even in the country when the uranium went missing.” Clark pointed out.
“So where are we now?” Lois asked.
“Trying to hack into Fort Knox here.” Clark pointed to the computer screen with the familiar LexLabs logo on it.
Jimmy walked up to them still with a sour expression on his face and handed them five separate folders. "CK, here's all I could find on the guys on your list. Not much I'm afraid."
"Thanks." Clark took the file from him. "You all right, Jimmy?"
"Yeah... I guess. It's just, they raised my rent and I can't afford it, so I gotta find a new place." Jimmy sighed.
"Why don't you ask Perry for a raise?" Clark suggested as if the answer was obvious.
Jimmy's eyes widened at the prospect, "Ask for a raise? I don't think so. I saw Pete in sports ask him for a raise and a week later Pete was gone."
Lois sighed, "Jimmy, unlike you, Pete wasn't very good at his job. Just remember, it's the squeaky wheel gets the oil."
"Or, they get a new wheel." Jimmy grumbled, "I just gotta find a way to get the Chief to notice my work."
Clark stiffened in his chair, and Lois noticed Dianne gathering her things, heading to the elevator as she called over her shoulder, "Virgil, we got an armored car robbery going down at third and Shuster! Get your camera!"
"I'm on it!" Virgil called out.
Jimmy jumped on the lead, grabbing his camera before Virgil could stand up, "Virgil, that's okay. I got it!"
"I'm off it!" Virgil called.
Lois looked back at Clark who gave her a quick nod before heading toward the stairwell. "Be careful." she mouthed to him.
***
TBC...
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